“Israel murdered Arafat with poison in 2004” – PA TV narrator repeats libel

Official PA TV program The Philosophy of Patience, on former PLO and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat’s death

Official PA TV narrator: "A series of operations (i.e., terror attacks) were carried out, and Israel dealt with them through intensive pursuit and nearly caught Yasser Arafat in Nablus. When they entered the room where he was, the bed was still warm and the tea kettle boiling. Israel continued to pursue him until it murdered him with poison in 2004 in his headquarters in Ramallah."

Following PLO and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's death in November 2004, the PA created the libel that Israel murdered Arafat, and it has been spreading it since then. Swiss, Russian, and French teams have studied these claims. In 2012, samples were taken from Arafat’s remains to be tested for poisoning, and Swiss and Russian teams afterwards published the results of their tests: The Swiss team concluded that the tests were "coherent with a hypothesis of poisoning" - but a member of the team also stated that "our study did not permit us to demonstrate categorically the hypothesis of poisoning by polonium." The Russian report concluded that "there was insufficient evidence to support the theory that Yasser Arafat died in 2004 by polonium poisoning." [Reuters, Nov. 8, 2013] In March 2015, three French judges ruled that "it has not been demonstrated that Mr. Yasser Arafat was murdered by polonium-210 poisoning." The French prosecutor stated that there was "not sufficient evidence of an intervention by a third party who could have attempted to take his life." [France 24, Sept. 2, 2015] The French prosecutor also explained that the polonium and lead found in Arafat’s grave were “of an environmental nature.” [Jerusalem Post, March 17, 2015].
Despite these results, the PA continues to blame Israel for Arafat’s death without any proof or backing for this claim.